Third Circuit Revives a Sliver of Plaintiff’s Cookie-Blocking Circumvention Claims Against Google
This is a lawsuit alleging that Google and others circumvented cookie-blocking settings of popular browsers. Our blog post on the district court ruling here: “Google Wins Cookie Privacy Lawsuit”. Plaintiffs asserted federal and state claims. The court affirms dismissal of…
Bashing Your Litigation Opponent in an Online Message Board? Go For It! (Forbes Cross-Post)
As Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message, and this principle is influencing online defamation jurisprudence. Judges frequently bend defamation standards for cases involving the rough-and-tumble world of online message boards (see, e.g., LeBlanc v. Skinner, Seldon v. Compass…
Google Defeats Copyright Lawsuit Over Waze Data (Forbes Cross-Post)
The basic copyright rule is clear: facts are not copyrightable; factual compilations can be. However, this simple rule masks considerable nuance. What is a “fact,” how does it differ from “non-facts,” what does it mean to “compile” facts, and when…
Court Enforces Arbitration Clause in Amazon’s Terms of Service–Fagerstrom v. Amazon
This lawsuit alleges that Amazon overstated the extent of discounts it offered customers (in stating the extent of the discount customer achieved when shopping at Amazon versus competing retailers). Amazon moved to compel arbitration, and the court grants the motion….
Woman That Rapper 2 Chainz Called a “THOT” In Viral Video Loses Lawsuit–Chisholm v. Epps
Tauheed Epps is a rapper known as “2 Chainz”. While backstage at one of his concerts, he allegedly filmed plaintiff while walking around backstage with his entourage, and repeatedly called her a “THOT” (which stands for “That Hoe Over There”)….
Google Play Defeats Lawsuit Over Unauthorized Bank Charges–Harvey v. Google
In March 2013, Susan Harvey bought a game via Google Play, which required her to electronically link her bank account. She alleges that hundreds of unauthorized charges hit her bank account, totaling thousands of dollars. Google allegedly offered to make…
When Does A Parody Twitter Account Constitute Criminal Identity Theft?–Sims v. Monaghan
Plaintiff, while he was in custody, created a fake Twitter account in the name of “Frank Zamiara” with the user name “LitlZeezy”. The account “was meant to act as the voice and alter ego of [an] abusive deputy.” It was…
Are Legal Restrictions On Disparaging Personal Names Unconstitutional?–In re The Slants (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Laura Heymann [Eric’s introduction: Prof. Heymann has spent more time thinking about the Law of Naming People and Things than anyone else I know. I asked her to weigh in on the potential implications of the Federal…
TCPA Claim Against Non-Sender Fails
Plaintiffs sued American Eagle Outfitters and Experian, alleging claims under the TCPA for unwanted text messages. American Eagle is the retailer, and Experian provides marketing services. But neither of these entities actually pressed the “send” button. We’ve seen disputes over…
No Fee Shift In Bogus Lawsuit Against Review Website–Roca v. PissedConsumer
In October, a court issued a really interesting and decisive Section 230 defense win. I ran out of time to blog it, but a recent follow-on ruling gives me an opportunity to ccover both rulings. The October Ruling Roca Labs…